Special Instructions 2005A

This page provides
instructions for completing Phase II Science Programs for all Gemini
North and Gemini South instruments. It includes submission details and
procedural changes. Please read this page carefully!

Note:
Beginning with this semester the Phase II deadlines are hard
deadlines for queue programs (see details below). Programs that have not completed
their Phase II definitions by the deadlines will be dropped from the queue.

Distribution of Phase II Skeletons

All observations
must be defined using the Observing Tool (OT) software. Gemini staff have translates approved Phase I proposals into the Phase II
format for loading into the OT. In this process, the observations and other details entered in Phase I
are used to construct a ("skeleton") framework of your Science
Program.

Instructions on skeleton retrieval have been sent to PIs on December 9. As in previous semesters, the Phase II
skeletons are downloaded/uploaded directly from/to the Gemini telescope databases
to enable more efficient and rapid processing. See more information
on using the Observing Database.

A new release of the OT ("grillo") is available to support Semester 2005A Phase II preparation (as well as on-going
2004A and 2004B programs); do not use the previous "cherry" public release.
There are OT installation instructions
available. If you are unfamiliar with the
OT, there is an OT tutorial that provides a useful
introduction. In addition, each instrument also has several web pages that
provide guidance on observing strategies and how to describe these in the OT.

Relaxation of Observing Condition Constraints and Other Observation Changes

For semester 2005A the queue was constructed by filling the expected
observing conditions (and overfilling the poorer than average conditions)
but limited to the total available queue time (i.e. the total science time
less scheduled classical nights and estimated Band 1 rollover programs).
Hence there is no queue Band 4, unlike previous semesters. Band 3 programs,
which now occupy the lowest third to half of the queue, are unlikely to
be executed, and very unlikely to be completed, if they request conditions
that are better than average (especially in cloud cover and image quality).

Starting in 2005A we encourage PIs of Band 3 programs, in particular, to
think carefully about relaxing the observation constraints within the
context of their overall time allocation and approved science goals (e.g. by
observing fewer targets). One useful analogy is to consider "how would I
attempt this program if it were classically scheduled and the conditions were
sub-optimal?".

If during detailed definition you find that the approved observations need to be modified,
please follow the change
request procedure.

User Support

The National Gemini Offices are responsible for Phase II support for the "established" facility and
visiting instruments as mandated by the Gemini Board. Phase II support for the
other instruments remains with the Gemini Observatory staff. In outline, the
Phase II process for the established instruments is as
follows:

PIs interact with NGO support staff to complete Phase II using the OT for
all observations with NIRI, including Altair, Phoenix, both GMOSs (including MOS mask
design), T-ReCS, GNIRS and Michelle.

All Phase II Science Programs are checked by NGO staff prior to being forwarded to
the Gemini Contact Scientist. (Note that Gemini CSs will return any Phase II
programs that are received directly from PIs, with instructions to contact
their NGO).

Gemini Contact Scientist checks Phase II Science Programs; if there is any
problem the Science Program will be returned to the NGO support staff. The NGO
staff will then iterate further with the PI.

Only when the Gemini Contact Scientist agrees that the Science Program is ready
will it be activated in the queue for execution. The PI will be notified that their program is in the active queue and that the Gemini CS is now
the primary contact point.

For the other instruments (Acquisition Camera) the Gemini
Contact scientist is the first point of contact for programs PIs.

If you wish to change the primary contact for this program, e.g. to a
co-I, please e-mail both Sybil Adams (sadams@gemini.edu) and Simon Chan
(schan@gemini.edu) with a copy to the relevant Gemini Associate Director
(jrroy@gemini.edu for Gemini North, ppuxley@gemini.edu for Gemini South)
and a copy to your National Gemini office.

To help us in tracking and resolving user problems,
questions and suggestions, and thereby improving the software and web pages,
please use
the Gemini HelpDesk. This allows us to ensure that no queries are missed and
help us improve the software and documentation. A streamlined
interface is
available for Phase II queries, keyed to your Gemini Program ID (e.g. GS-2005A-Q-12). As with the regular HelpDesk interface,
your query will be
directed to the specific NGO or Gemini support staff. Support
assignments do change occasionally and you can verify the contact names
from the "interactive snapshot" of the Observing Database, accessed
from the contents list on the schedules
web page. (The NGO and Gemini support staff email addresses are listed on the
support staff web page).

The mechanism for submitting your completed Phase II Science Program is
similar to skeleton retrieval (see the Observing Database
information for more details) and is the same
for all instruments (although submission of MOS mask definition files, and
finding charts, is currently handled
separately, outside of the Observing Tool, via direct email to your Gemini
Contact Scientist).

Dates for submission of completed Phase II information are (all 6pm local time):

Phase
II deadlines for all instruments

Deadline

Notes

12 January

Early submission, recommended for any programs and especially
advantageous for observations that can be executed early in the semester

These deadlines apply to all queue programs including templates for
Quick Response / ToO observations. (In addition there are periodic
deadlines during the semester for GMOS mask design and corresponding
MOS observation updates only).

PIs of all classical programs must also
submit Phase II observation definitions. The deadline for these is two
weeks prior to the instrument block in which the classical nights are
scheduled.
(See the 2005A classical schedule
and 2005A
instrument schedule).

Programs that have not completed their Phase II definitions by the
deadlines noted above will be dropped from the queue. In exceptional
cases an exemption may be requested by emailing the relevant Gemini Associate Director
(jrroy@gemini.edu for Gemini North, ppuxley@gemini.edu for Gemini South)

In some cases GMOS PIs may be contacted directly and asked to submit their
Phase II early to provide sufficient observations for pre-imaging and MOS
spectroscopy at the very start of the semester. All MOS pre-imaging observation
descriptions must be submitted by the regular deadlines (see table above).

OT and Other Late-Breaking Changes for 2005A

The principal changes to the OT software are listed on the OT
Hot News page. There are also several new policy changes. Here we summarise
how they affect Phase II observation definition and point the user to further
details.

Altair

The ALTAIR component now has a button by which the PI specifies whether
the cassegrain rotator rotates to compensate for field rotation, as is normal
practice, or
is fixed, as requested for some AO observations.

GMOS North and South

No policy changes for 2005A: PIs must specify all science and baseline
calibration observations with the exception of (spectro)photometric standards,
bias and flatfield images. See the list of GMOS
baseline calibrations for details of the calibrations required.

The flatfield lamp and diffuser inside GCAL were changed earlier in 2004B for
GMOS North and South. All GMOS calibrations using GCAL should use the visible
diffuser.

GNIRS

PIs must now define and include in their Phase II programs all
baseline calibrations (flats, arcs, telluric standards) and acquisition
observations. The list of
baseline calibrations is available and examples are given on the GNIRS
OT help page. An example acquisition observation is given on the same page.

Note also the new offset acquisition (including "blind acquisition")
procedure described below.

Michelle

Spectroscopic programs must include two spectroscopic standard stars, one for before and one for after the
observation (see updated Michelle
baseline calibrations for more details).

A basic acquisition sequence must be included in all spectroscopic
observations. This usually consists of a short Si-5 image taken in normal chop
mode. An example is shown the OT library for
Michelle (library available as an XML file for import
into OT).

NIRI

There are several changes to the calibration policies (also described on the NIRI
calibration page). For each imaging program that is observed, flats will normally
be obtained at the end of the night. If the PI requires
that the flats be obtained closer in time to the actual science observations,
they must
request this in a note inserted in the Phase II Science Program. The only standard darks that will be taken each night are short exposure darks to check for bad pixels. If the PI
desires darks frames other than the above, they must include them along with a note
in the Phase II Science Program. Any such
darks will be observed at the end of the night.

Flat and arc exposure times have recently been adjusted. PIs should use calibration observations from the
latest update of the OT library for NIRI
(library available as an XML file for import
into OT).

Phoenix

New instructions for classical observers at Gemini South, as well as
for classical Phoenix observers in particular, will shortly be available.

T-ReCS

No policy changes for 2005A: PIs must specify acquisition details (as part of
sequence or as a separate observation), astrometric and PSF standards if
required, as described on the T-ReCS
pages.

Previously, acquisitions involving an offset from another target were
specified by the PI as (delta RA, delta dec) in arcsec in a text note.
From this semester, the reference target position must be defined as a User
Target in the OT target component, giving the full (RA, dec) coordinates.
See the updated telescope acquisition
procedures for more details.

Non-sidereal objects

The new OT release supports specification of non-sidereal targets in several
of the common systems (JPL Horizons, AsA and MPC). See the updated OT target
component editor page for more details.

Calibration
Time Accounting

There is no change to calibration time accounting policies; baseline
calibrations, as described on the instrument pages, continue to be charged to
the partner country and not to the individual science program. However, to
assist PIs in defining their observations and optimizing their use of allocated
time, a new calibration checkbox in the OT observation
component toggles whether or not that observation is included in the total
time summation. PIs should set baseline calibration observations in this way.
(This feature is not, yet, available for calibrations included as part of a
science observation sequence).

Classical Time Accounting

At its November 2004 meeting, the Gemini Board endorsed a recommendation from
the Gemini Science Committee that classical time be charged at 75% of the rate
of queue time e.g. a nominal 10hr classical night would be charged as 7.5hr to
the partner countries involved.

Notification of Data Taken

On the OT observation
component there is a now a "Notify PI"
checkbox. When checked it will (shortly) send a brief email to the PI
whenever data are taken for the program (at the moment it doesn't do
anything!).

Status of Submitted Programs and Observations

The 2005A queue summary
and "interactive database snapshot" pages
show the current execution status of all queue programs and indicates
when data have been taken. (For the next level of detail, click on the
"execution status" link under each program to see the status of each
observation or on the execution log links in the contents list to see which
observations were executed each night).